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Capitol Reef is probably my least favorite Utah NP to visit so far(haven't been to Bryce yet). However, definately was a nice spot with good fall folliage. Goblin Valley was fun place. Little Wildhorse Canyon was good. Great Gallery in Canyonlands was a lot tougher than I expected. I took my neighbor with me on this trip. This was my first NP trip without my wife or daughter. Was able to hike longer trails, but will probably never go again without them.

Sounds like a trip we would like to take. How hard was it to get to the Great Gallery? We've considered doing it a couple of times, but have chickened out, once because of weather, once because we're just chicken, but would love to get down there sometime.

Beautiful pictures!!! If all goes well, we will be there next week, hopefully also with some blue sky (long range forecast does not look good...) I was hoping for a report and it did not take long! Any 'easy' hikes?

emalloy, The road was really fine. I had rented a SUV, but could have easily made it in about anything. There were several RV's parked at the trailhead that had camped there. The hike is strenuous for sure(90% is hiking in sand). If you are into that sort of thing, it would be something you should not miss.

henniej, you could hike any of the hikes that we did and none of them would be to bad. Hiking them as connecting trails all at one time is fairly tough. There looked like several other good hikes that we didn't do. Get some pie or ice cream at the Gifford House in the orchard. both are homemade on the premises. Have a picnic with the deer in the orchard. Hopefully you will have some good weather. We never saw a single cloud and even commented on it several times. Little wildhorse is a super easy hike, but there is a lot of people on it. Don't even think about it if rain is in the forecast.

It appeared to me that we were the first ones out of the canyon on the day we went. We didn't notice anyone with injuries, but we did meet an ambulance and park ranger traveling together with lights on. This was about half-way point on the dirt road. I can't imagine trying to haul someone out of the canyon. Hopefully, it was someone at the camping group they were attending to.

Now you've gone and beat me to 3 places I've been wanting to go for a long time - and I live here!! Your pictures are great and I'm glad you had a good time.

Everyone does have widely varied opinions of Capitol Reef. My first visit I didn't care for it, but each time I've enjoyed it more. Some hikes there I love, others I would not recommend at all - like Chimney Rock.

You really did come at the perfect time for some fall colors. American Fork Canyon is one of the real highlights in the fall. Moab and Zion can be fantastic too, Zion is much later, of course!

Dayle,
We were in Zion last year Oct 20th. Colors were not nearly as impressive as what I saw this trip. I guess we got lucky on the cave, as it was there last day for the tours(closing for the season). That is one heck of a hike to the top of the mountain as well. We had 3 hours to kill before heading to the airport, so we made a mad dash up in 35 minutes and they let us on the tour ahead of our scheduled time. Next time I am in Utah, you should hook up and hike with us. I really enjoyed Zion, but I can see myself returning to Moab several trips. There is just so much cool stuff there.

There is a lot of good looking hikes around "the swell". Ding, Dang, Little Wild Horse, Bell, and on and on. I so wish I had enough experience to do some canyoneering on my own. I would be to afraid of navigation and rappelling skills at this point to try it.

Yes, spiro, fall colors in Zion are in November. It's just that much further south and lower in elevation.

Timpanogas Cave is a treat. Hard hike, but so worth it! I try to recommend it to people visiting the SLC area, but most visitors who come north, come in the winter to ski. The parks in the south get way more visitors.

Let me know when you plan another UT trip. I've been thinking of a Fodorites GTG for Moab sometime. Wouldn't that be fun? Maybe the fall?

yeah, they just changed it up the last couple of days, hopefully they will get the situation resolved soon. I order a photobooks on there often. However, their "share" is not nearly as good as other sites.

Dayle,
I was thinking I might go to Moab Nov 2010. Maybe the weekend before Thanksgiving. That is a long way off. If you did a gtg I wonder if I could talk anyone into canyoneering. Another date might be mid-oct next year. I have a couple of guys that work for me that I might take along, if my daughter doesn't want to go. I can't talk my wife into the canyoneering. She ziplinned and loved it. She thinks this requires a lot of strength, which it doesn't. It is safer than climing a ladder, in my opinion. My wife hasn't been to Arches and she does want to see it. I think it is my favorite Utah Park(haven't done Bryce yet). If I don't do Moab next year, I might try and get a permit to "the wave". I haven't done Page/Lake Powell or Escalante yet.